


snowfall

by herillusion



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22084381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herillusion/pseuds/herillusion
Summary: Dimitri was cozy enough in his furlined cloak, especially when the weather was nothing compared to Faerghus winters. But seeing the way Claude shivered slightly, despite it being a short walk back to his quarters, he impulsively took off his cloak and draped it around Claude’s shoulders. Despite his immediate protests, Claude made no move to actually remove the cloak and in fact even tugged it closer around himself. Dimitri couldn’t shake the warmth he felt from seeing his clothes on Claude, and had to hastily cast his thoughts elsewhere before his imagination took him to places which would be best left explored when he was alone in his bed at night.written for day 1 of dimiclaude week! the prompt was trust/dreams/winter.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 8
Kudos: 65





	snowfall

“Dimitri, fancy seeing you here.”

The voice that intruded on his thoughts held a teasing tone that was familiar to him by now. Even it wasn’t, the fact that he was addressed by his name would have clued him in, since almost no one else at the Academy did. He was here often enough that it was automatically the first place people trying to find him would look. Yet, he was often left to his solitude unless something urgent cropped up. Even then, it was mostly Dedue who came, whether it was because of his role as his vassal or some other reason, he hadn’t yet figured out. He thought his housemates meant well, but while he was generally content to be left to his thoughts...he did wish for company, sometimes. He frequently felt like he would be intruding if he tried to seek it out – none of them were unwelcoming, precisely. But it was as if his presence curtailed their usual conversation somewhat, and it didn’t help that their insistence on calling him ‘Your Highness’ constantly reminded him of how he would be their king, someday. And they would hardly turn away someone who was meant to rule over them regardless of whether his company was actually welcome or not, would they?

“Claude,” he acknowledged, turning to face his fellow house leader. He wasn’t sure if Claude had meant for it to turn out as it had but this, too, had become an odd routine of theirs. At least once a week, Claude would seek him out and invite him for tea, horse riding or some other pursuit, and Dimitri always accepted his invitation. He had a suspicion Claude would have asked him to go wyvern riding, but the wyverns weren’t readily available upon request like the horses were. He wasn’t sure what to feel about flying on a wyvern, but he thought he might not mind so much if he could hold on to Claude closely in front of him. He knew of Claude’s moniker as the master tactician, and it was true the other boy was inscrutable at best – that practiced smirk of his hiding whatever emotion he might be feeling. Whether he had any other intentions behind his invitations, Dimitri couldn’t say, but it was nice to spend time with someone who understood the responsibilities and pressures of his position. 

It wasn’t something they talked about in detail, but he was aware to some extent that Claude’s people were not as unanimously supportive of his position as his own were. He couldn’t say he understood why – he personally thought Claude would make a wonderful ruler. Unfortunately, it wasn’t his opinion that counted, and he was hardly in a position yet to be able to offer any help in that regard. But he was confident that if Claude were to offer an alliance in future, he would accept readily. Felix would probably say he was foolish to trust someone who hid so much, but he was hardly a stranger to hiding things himself. He felt as though Claude and the professor could see through him sometimes, with their searching gazes. He didn’t know if it was a foolish hope, to want them to stand by him regardless of the ugliness inside they saw. Regardless of Claude’s reputation, Dimitri couldn’t shake the instinctive trust he had in him. He might be scheming, but he had seen enough of how the other boy treated those around him to know that he had a kind heart.

He held people at a distance, but he undoubtedly cared for his housemates, as much as he might try to play everything off as a joke. He hoped that with time, Claude would trust him enough to confide in him. The other boy never spoke too much of anything of consequence, but with what he said, Dimitri felt that he had dreams of his own that he was working hard to achieve. He had come to consider Claude a friend, and loath as he was to admit it, he couldn’t deny he had begun to see him in a romantic light as well. Sylvain would tease him to no end if he found out, after how that whole debacle of trying to get him to go out with girls had ended. He readily accepted the invitation to tea Claude extended – during this season, most of his suggested activities were situated indoors. The snow was pretty, but not very practical unless they intended to make snowmen or have a snowball fight. 

Dimitri was cozy enough in his furlined cloak, especially when the weather was nothing compared to Faerghus winters. But seeing the way Claude shivered slightly, despite it being a short walk back to his quarters, he impulsively took off his cloak and draped it around Claude’s shoulders. Despite his immediate protests, Claude made no move to actually remove the cloak and in fact even tugged it closer around himself. Dimitri couldn’t shake the warmth he felt from seeing his clothes on Claude, and had to hastily cast his thoughts elsewhere before his imagination took him to places which would be best left explored when he was alone in his bed at night. Namely, how good Claude would look dressed in nothing but his cloak...or perhaps his uniform and dressing gown. It was mildly unfortunate they were in fact heading towards his quarters, but it wasn’t as if he could suggest going elsewhere without it raising suspicions. 

Claude always refused when Dimitri tried to suggest going to Claude’s quarters, saying something about it being too cluttered to be able to fit the both of them and the tea things. Dimitri thought it was more likely it had something to do with his sense of privacy, but he always did try his luck now and then. Foolish, perhaps, but it was his own personal test of the closeness of their relationship. It would be a milestone if Claude were to agree. He didn’t think anyone else was allowed in – not even Hilda, who was arguably the closest to him at the Academy. They could technically go elsewhere in the academy, but doing it in their quarters much reduced the chances of any unwanted interruptions or unwelcome attention. He knew they couldn’t avoid being in the public eye completely, since they were expected to be role models as house leaders even without taking into account how they were to be future rulers. But he had never enjoyed being in the center of attention, and neither it seemed, did Claude, although it frequently seemed otherwise. 

Claude seemed oddly restless today, he thought, watching him fiddle with the fur on the cloak. He’d kept it on even after they reached his quarters. Fair enough, since the fire had just been lighted and the room wasn’t all that warm yet. Dimitri wasn’t about to remind him – it was an odd indulgence to allow himself, to admire how Claude looked in his cloak, but he didn’t see any harm in it. The fidgeting was normal enough for him, but his changes of topic were less smooth than usual too. Dimitri wasn’t much of a conversationalist himself, and he was well aware of that fact. There probably wasn’t anyone better than Claude for smooth talking his way out of a situation, although Dimitri could scrape by when it came to small talk if he had to. He was generally content to let Claude carry most of the conversation, since he had plenty of entertaining stories to tell. From his stories, it seemed that Claude hadn’t been too different as a child in some ways, namely his endless curiosity and tendency towards experimentation.

He often also left their encounters feeling as if he had said more than he meant to, but it was hard not to, when Claude seemed genuinely interested in what he had to say. Not to imply his housemates didn’t care about what he had to say, but most of them weren’t too interested in his rambling about weapon maintenance or battle tactics. Half of them were his childhood friends too, so it wasn’t as if it made any sense for them to ask him about childhood stories when they had been there for it. There wasn’t a lot of time for heart to hearts during mealtimes, in any case, and he didn’t tend to spend much time with most of them after classes. That time when he had asked Mercedes to teach him to sew had been a start, and was hopefully something that would continue, in terms of learning another useful skill and getting to know her better. Sometimes he would accept Dedue’s invitations to go to the greenhouse with him, when his headaches were especially bad and he didn’t feel up to dealing with Felix at the training grounds. 

He knew Felix wasn’t entirely wrong about him, but it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt to have one of his oldest friends treating him like this. He didn’t think what he talked about was sensitive information, in any case. Most of it was childhood stories from what happened before the tragedy happened. It left him with mixed feelings when he spoke of Felix especially, given the way things were now, but even as children Felix and Sylvain had always been closer than he had been to either of them. He thought maybe someday he would talk about the tragedy, if Claude asked. It was supposed to be cathartic, to talk about it. He wasn’t sure how that would work, but if there was anyone he wouldn’t mind trying with, it would be Claude. But at the same time Claude was unlikely to ask – it wasn’t exactly a topic one simply brought up, and it would be considered insensitive at best, with the bad memories it would bring up. Their time together passed more or less normally up till the end, where Claude abruptly fixed him with a serious gaze.

“If I tell you something, promise to keep it between us.”

Dimitri simply nodded, waiting for him to continue. He must have been deliberating with it for quite some time. Claude wasn’t the type of person to reveal his secrets lightly, which was why his trust was so valuable.

“I’m Almyran. Well, half Almyran, technically. Not sure if you already figured it out and I just confirmed your guess, or I just gave you the biggest shock of your life-”

Dimitri caught his wrist, stopping the flow of words. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen Claude so flustered before, and his nervousness would almost be endearing if he wasn’t aware of how big of a secret Claude had just admitted. He had suspected, in fact. Claude’s favourite tea was Almyran pine needles, which wasn’t really much to draw a conclusion from. But although he wasn’t one to listen to idle gossip, Claude’s sudden appearance as the future leader to the Alliance had invited a lot of talk. So even Dimitri had heard his fair share of rumors. Besides, in one of the rare wise pieces of advice from Sylvain, it could only be useful to know more about someone he would likely interact with a lot in future, whether it be as an ally or a rival. He hadn’t intentionally tried to look into Claude’s past and secrets, but even so, all the little pieces gradually added up enough for him to make a guess. He remained silent until Claude finally reluctantly met his gaze. It was cruel, perhaps, to keep him in suspense when he knew Claude was waiting for his reaction, but he wanted him to know his words were sincere.

“Thank you for telling me, Claude. If you think that makes any difference for me, then you don’t know me as well as you thought.”

He let Claude scrutinize him as long as he liked. When it seemed like he had finally figured out that was all the response he was going to get from Dimitri, he broke into a small smile. It wasn’t anything like the practiced grins he liked to flash everyone, and was probably the most sincere Dimitri had even seen him. He quietly memorized the moment, hoping he would be able to see this smile from Claude again in future. He knew it wouldn’t be easy to have a relationship of any sort with their respective positions, but he vowed that one day he would try asking anyway. He had no idea if Claude thought about him romantically, but he was starting to think that the chances that his feelings might be reciprocated were higher than he initially assumed them to be.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on twitter [here](https://twitter.com/llanzhan)!


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